My Baby Turned 2

She’s a baby no more! My little girl turned the big TWO the last week of January.

You know I can’t resist pullig up the one-year pics to see how much she’s changed.

Still squirmy, a lot stronger, a lot longer. What else does TWO mean?

Chattering away in full sentences and inquiring about everything. What’s dat? Who dat? What doing mommy? And narrating everything. Our mornings sound something like: Daddy take shower. Mommy have coffee. I toot.

Chucking her sippy cup across the dining room table, right at her big bro. She’s got a really good arm. And maybe some pent-up frustration with him?

An astounding amount of empathy. If she sees someone upset, she wants to understand why, give a hug, and then do something to fix it. She’ll go get one of her brother’s favorite toys if he’s cranky, or try to make me laugh if he’s upset me. She amazes us constantly with how much she ‘gets it.’

The faces!! She loves practicing her bottom lip-out pouty face. You do it back to her and she bursts out laughing.

Very strong opinions on what she wants to wear — clothes, shoes, coats, and accessories. She wore her gold Mardi Gras bead necklace everyday for a week. Yesterday she insisted on wearing her too-small hand-me-down monster rainboots. Pink overalls with pink shirt? She insists.

I had to get some balloons and take her out for a quick (albeit cold) photo session.

I failed to mention running, jumping, kicking, and stomping in my above list…

Poor girl, we had a bit of confusion over the balloon weight. It was wrapped up like a present, so E insisted on opening it. What a letdown to find a cement ball inside… So we redeemed the outing with cupcakes.

Two is hard to photograph, since they do have such a mind of their own. Thankfully Grammy was there to help keep E happy, safe, and smiling. All the smiles she gave were because Grammy was laughing with her. Because honestly, E’s in a stage where she literally tries to hit the camera out of my hands. So I leave you with a photo of what Ellie really thinks about getting her picture taken…